Scott Pioli is own his own with the Chiefs.Scott Pioli is on his own with the Chiefs.The news Chiefs fans have been waiting for seems to have finally arrived: Scott Pioli is reportedly on board as the new architect of Kansas City's NFL future. As I'd advocated Pioli for awhile, I simply offer a "thumbs-up" and a hearty congratulations to Arrowhead nation. As a Broncos fan, I'd sort of hoped that maybe Pat Bowlen would steal Pioli out from under Clark Hunt, but apparently that was not a possibility. Sounds like the Broncos may not even hire a full-time GM. Anyway, I raided Pioli's page in the Patriots' media guide for five fun facts about the background of the Chiefs' newest czar.

1. Pioli was with Bill Belichick for nine seasons and the duo was the longest-tenured coach-personnel man duo going in the NFL. During those nine seasons, the Patriots won three Super Bowls, four AFC titles and six division championships. How much of it was Belichick and how much was Pioli? Chiefs fans are happily about to find out the answer.

2. Pioli was a two-time winner as the NFL Young Executive of the Year Award, in 2003 and 2004. Well, blow me to smithereens, I didn't know such an award existed. But it's an impressive feat anyway. The other execs to win the award twice in a row were Bill Polian and Bobby Beathard and Pioli was younger than both them when he won. That's some seriously good company to run in.

3. Some really impressive personnel facts from the Patriots' mini-dynasty:
  • In 2005, the Patriots set a post-merger league record for a division champion by utilizing 45 different starters
  • In 2003, the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVIII despite using 42 different starters, the most in league history by a Super Bowl champion
  • Last season, the Patriots tied the all-time NFL record with 21 different players scoring touchdowns
  • Of the 53 players on the Patriots' Super Bowl XLII roster, 43 were acquired after the team's first championship in 2001 and 31 were acquired since the team's third title in 2004
4. In 2007, six Patriots players drafted by Belichick and Pioli were selected to the Pro Bowl and were named to the Associated Press All-Pro first or second teams: Tom Brady (sixth round), Dan Koppen (fifth round), Matt Light (second round), Logan Mankins (first round), Asante Samuel (fourth round) and Vince Wilfork (first round).

5. This is a quote from a Super Bowl Bowl press conference that, to me, would have made me want to kiss Pioli on the mouth if I were hiring him to run my football team. It's about the most valuable lesson he's learned as a personnel man: "Not to get caught up in the numbers. The things like height, weight and speed. The test numbers. It's not getting too caught up in numbers. I've made mistakes by getting caught up with the workouts. Tom Brady took some heat recently when they showed a video of his running a 40-yard dash. Tommy's speed and running has nothing to do with his pocket presence. Here is a guy, he has vision. He has the feel. He has the sense. He knows when to step up, so his athleticism is due to his awareness. Ted Bruschi, his instincts are incredible. They're rare. He plays a lot faster than what his numbers on paper would indicate. Ty Warren's strength-I remember when Ty was coming out, his overall wasn't great but he has this brute strength. Wes Welker is another guy. He has enough quickness to get away from folks."

In other words, he targets guys that look good playing football, not just standing there in a uniform. It seems obvious, but the production over potential issue is one that tugs at every talent evaluator in every sport. I cast my lot with the production crowd. It took awhile, but I think Clark Hunt has made a great move for the future of football in Kansas City.